I've been wanting to make a video of this process ever since I began learning about it.
(It's probably that whole eyes like a shutter, mind like a lens thing)
This is my first foray into using youtube and iMovie past throwing together video clips and putting a song to it.
Editing the voice memos and music together was definitely a learning curve and I apologize in advance for any difficulty in hearing what I'm saying in the first part of the video! I decided to let that whole "don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good" thing be my mantra and get this video done vs. not because after staying up until 4am the other night working on it I had reached my limit (and here I am typing this at 4am.... I am definitely going to need some sleep this weekend!)
Over all though I really loved making this video and as I've been wanting to get more into doing videos of travels/vlogging/how-tos, this is probably not the last you'll see of this sort of thing.
So if you feel so inclined---> Subscribe to my youtube channel!
And let me know if there's any sort of videos in particular you'd like to see on there.
P.s. My friend Emily deserves another shout out for helping me with this video (since I don't own a selfie stick and taking videos of myself would have been extremely difficult...)
Go follow her ethereal self on Instagram.
Photo by Gray Breeden
A New Venture
I shared over the weekend that I will be having a trunk show at Quirk Gallery on October 1st.
I wanted to share a little more about what this trunk show represents for me.
I've been working intentionally over the past year or so on my education in regards to my knitwear designing and being more involved in the process and construction of a garment.
I've been going on various visits and tours of farms (which you can read more about in Farm Days posts More coming soon!) and learning about shearing, processing, and spinning wool into the end product (yarn) that I'm used to working with.
It's been such en enlightening and gratifying experience.
To know that I'm able to take a natural and God given resource and within my own abilities and resources, turn it into something that's able to be enjoyed and used by others for (hopefully) generations to come is really satisfying.
The idea for this new venture into this kind of knitwear came from my pursuits and interest in recent years into the art of slow, mindful and intentional living.
What was I consuming? What was I allowing into my life? What was I saying, unknowingly or otherwise, with the things that I used and wore and bought on a daily basis?
I not only wanted to practice more mindfulness in these areas in my every day life, but also find a way to embody that in my art.
I’ve been knitting for about 17 years, and designing collections for a living for four of those years. However it wasn’t until I started pursuing a more ethical and sustainable lifestyle as well as educating myself on fast fashion, that I thought about how my knitwear played into that. I realized I had no idea how the yarn I used for my collections was made, where it came from, what effect it had on the environment or even whose pocket my dollar was going into when I bought it.
That, along with attending a local fiber festival and learning how to spin yarn, set into motion my pursuit of being involved in every phase possible of the construction of a piece of my knitwear.
If I don’t personally source the wool from a farm I’ve visited during my travels or built a relationship with, take it to the mill to be processed, process it in my own home or spin it into yarn myself, I take great lengths to make sure the yarn is sourced and made by a similar minded fiber artist.
While it’s my dream to one day learn how to shear sheep myself and maybe even own a few, I am content with being as much involved in the process of the “sheep to shawl” idea of my knitwear as I can be in this current season of my life as I live in the city.
I’ve also been experimenting and learning about the incredible art of natural dying and will occasionally add that as an element to a special piece. Collecting flowers, lichen, moss, plants, and other found materials to form dyes that only add to the beauty that can be created when using natural resources.
As a result of this process, each piece is one-of-a-kind and a work of art in and of itself.
Each carries with it a story that has many chapters, each of which is very much apart of me and my journey as not only a knitwear designer but a traveler, photographer, and an artist.
I'm excited to share this next phase with you guys. So many of you, my dear family and friends, have been such a huge part of this becoming and evolution in these pursuits and passions of mine.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I couldn't do it without you.
xo
P.s. I've been working on a video to showcase the story of processing a fleece start to finish at the fiber mill so keep an eye out for that coming soon!
Farm Days | Beltayne Farm
Being able to visit Beltayne Farm was a result of a connection I made through someone seeing this Instagram post of mine and kindly recommending me to their friend Sunshine’s shearing day that she and her family were hosting.
After exchanging some Facebook messages, and grabbing my friend Meagan to come along, I headed out on one rainy Spring day to see some sheep.
We had the best time and instantly connected and loved Sunshine and her family who could not have been more generous or welcoming (sending us home with a dozen eggs from their chickens, as well as a promise of some wool upon our next visit).
The Summer has gotten away with me and kept me quite busy but I hope to return to this little homestead sometime soon to revisit the new friends I made there.
The day involved me holding my very first little lamb (named Pip… whose sibling is named Squeak) which obviously could not have made my day any more than it did.
I'm grateful for the generosity and kindness of strangers that’s extended and shared even before common interests and passions are established.
Hope you enjoy a few iPhone snaps from the day!
Event | Quirk Gallery Trunk Show
Excited to announce a trunk show I will be having at Quirk Gallery along with my lovely friend Jess of Willow Knows!
It will be held a week from now on October 1st from 11am-5pm at Quirk Gallery which is located next to Quirk Hotel at 207 W Broad in Richmond.
You can find more details and RSVP at the Facebook event page here.
Hope to see you there friends!
xo
Tumblehome | Camping In Maine
The first of many adventures under the Tumblehome name.
This road trip up to Maine with Una and my Father, The Sailor, and our puppy named Huck, was one of the highlights of my Summer.
Camping on islands, early morning foggy sails, food cooked over a fire, drinks and stories shared with new friends, refreshing (ie: frigid) afternoon swims, shell-rock-driftwood collecting and quality time with one of my favorite people in the world all captured a mood and feeling of simplicity, intention, and that not-so-elusive-after-all slow living mindset I am always chasing after.
See more photos from our trip by following us over on our Instagram.
Goodnight Things I Love
in Thoughts
"i always say goodnight to the things i love. just as i would people. i think they like it."
— anne of green gables
goodnight brooklyn red rug.
goodnight plants.
goodnight blue chair.
goodnight stack of books.
goodnight bed.
goodnight lamp.
goodnight little spot on the wall.
goodnight favorite mug.
goodnight slightly ajar window.
goodnight home.
goodnight rain.
goodnight moon.
//
Photos taken during a rainstorm in Quicksburg Virginia
Acceptance
in Thoughts
Pt. 1
It's an often out-of-reach thing—acceptance.
We're told to have it in many aspects of our lives. Our bodies, our situations, ways and whys and hows in which we cannot always be in control.
Loving myself, my body, how I was made and who I am, seems to grow harder as I age. Is it because there's more of me to accept? As I gain scars, knowledge, wisdom, insecurities, weight, problems?
Is it because my eyes and ears are opened to how much more there is in the world to influence me? Is it because my resolve has more of a chance of weakening over time?
I'm doing my best to love and accept myself -as I am exactly now- these days.
Pt. 2
I feel most beautiful in the morning.
I feel as though that's telling of a truth that often escapes me later in the day.
That who I am, here and now, before the world has a chance to touch me with it's comparisons, lies, judgements, perceptions and fears, is who I am.
My natural state.
Naturally beautiful, not because my beauty lines up with what society conventionally calls beautiful. But because this is how I was made and that is beautiful.
I find the most peace with myself and my being in these early hours. I'm untouched and unencumbered by the Pandora's box that is living in this day and age.
I've recognized that about myself over the years and as such try to hold the mornings sacred as they are the time in which I get to dictate how the rest of my day will go. It's the time in which I can look at myself internally and externally, free from outside influence, accept and love what I find and carry that love and acceptance with me into the rest of my day. Into the light. Into the world. For other people to see.
Friday Favorites || 18
The Nightstorms playlist on Spotify. Cannot believe I didn't know this was a thing until just now. My storm/rain/grey weather heart is so in love
Lessons In Living Like The French
Pretty imagery from my friend Bridget, a fellow plant mama
This whole album. For the music and for the title --- All Is Wild, All Is Silent
These words
A recent TED radio hour podcast on slowing down. They also touch on Slow TV which is an interesting concept. Though I don't own, or really even like watching TV, the idea of it appeals to me.
I mean, there's a national knitting evening... basically the actual story of my life.
Plus, just THIS. Planning on watching this whole thing over the weekend.
///////
See more Friday Favorites posts here
A Wild Love
in Photography
and have you ever felt for anything
such wild love—
Mary Oliver, from New and Selected Poems; “The Sun”
Happy Birthday Yesterday's Heroes!
in Photography
It's Yesterday's Heroes third birthday today.
So happy this little shop is here adding loveliness to the local Richmond community in more ways than one, and I'm glad I get to be apart of it from time to time.
xo
P.S. Follow @yesterdaysheroes
P.P.S. Isn't Drew a cutie?